Summary of 2024 Housing Legislation PDF Free Download
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Summary of
2024 Housing
Legislation
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Contents
Summary of 2024 Housing Legislation ........................................................................................ 3
1. BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................. 3
2. SUMMARY TABLE ............................................................................................................. 3
3. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................... 6
3.1 Streamlining Approvals and Incentivizing Higher Density Development ................................... 6
3.1.1 Senate Bill (“SB”) 423 – Land use: streamlined housing approvals: multifamily housing
developments. ......................................................................................................................... 6
3.1.2 Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1490 – Affordable housing development projects; adaptive reuse. ............ 6
3.1.3 SB 4 – Planning and zoning: housing development: higher education institutions and religions
institutions. ............................................................................................................................. 7
3.1.4 AB 434 – Housing Element: notice of violation..................................................................... 7
3.2 CEQA Housing Reforms .................................................................................................... 8
3.2.1 AB 1633 – Housing Accountability Act: disapprovals: California Environmental Quality Act. ....... 8
3.2.2 AB 1307 – California Environmental Quality Act: noise impact: residential projects. ................. 9
3.3 Changes to State Density Bonus Law ................................................................................. 9
3.3.1 AB 1287 – Density Bonus Law: maximum allowable residential density: additional density bonus
and incentives or concessions. ................................................................................................... 9
3.3.2 SB 713 – Planning and zoning: density bonuses: development standard. .............................. 11
3.4 Modifications to the Surplus Lands Act .............................................................................. 11
3.4.1 SB 747 – Land use: surplus land. .................................................................................... 11
3.4.2 AB 480 – Surplus land. ................................................................................................... 12
3.4.3 SB 229 – Surplus land: disposal of property: violations: public meeting. .............................. 12
3.5 Accessory Dwelling Units ................................................................................................ 12
3.5.1 AB 976 – Accessory dwelling units: owner-occupancy requirements. .................................... 12
3.5.2 AB 1033 - Accessory dwelling units: local ordinances: separate sale or conveyance. .............. 13
3.5.3 AB 1332 – Accessory dwelling units: preapproved plans. .................................................... 13
3.6 Parking Requirements .................................................................................................... 13
3.6.1 AB 894 – Parking requirements: shared parking. ............................................................... 13
3.6.2 AB 1308 - Planning and Zoning Law: single-family residences: parking requirements. ............ 14
3.7 Replacement Housing Requirements ................................................................................ 15
3.7.1 AB 1218 – Development projects: demolition of residential dwelling units. ............................ 15
3.8 Miscellaneous Laws ........................................................................................................ 15
3.8.1 AB 548 – State Housing Law: inspection. .......................................................................... 15
3.8.2 AB 821 – Planning and zoning: general plan: zoning ordinance: conflicts. ............................. 16
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Summary of 2024 Housing Legislation
1. BACKGROUND
Continuing a multi-year effort to address the statewide housing crisis, the California Legislature
enacted an extensive housing package consisting of 56 new bills in 2023. The housing legislation
package imposes certain additional requirements for local agencies responsible for permitting
housing. Among other changes, the laws expand affordable housing streamlining, introduces
several reforms to streamline new affordable housing production, expedite California
Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) review of housing projects, expand state Density Bonus
Law, clarify the Surplus Land Act, revise Accessory Dwelling Unit (“ADU”) regulations, and
supplement the Housing Crisis Act of 2019’s (“HCA”) replacement housing requirements.
Implementation of these new housing laws is made even more complex for coastal cities due to
the need to implement the new housing laws in a manner that is consistent with the California
Coastal Act (“Coastal Act”) (Pub. Res. Code, §§ 30000 et seq.).
This paper will summarize the key new state housing laws taking effect in 2024 and their
potential impacts. The new housing laws focus on the following key issue areas:
1. Streamlining Approvals and Incentivizing Higher Density Development
2. CEQA Housing Reforms
3. Changes to State Density Bonus Law
4. Modifications to the Surplus Land Act
5. Accessory Dwelling Units (“ADUs”)
6. Parking Requirements
7. Replacement Housing Requirements
8. Miscellaneous Laws
The following table summarizes key housing laws. The discussion section provides more detail
regarding changes to existing law, and discusses the potential impacts of these various laws.
2. SUMMARY TABLE
Streamlining Approvals and Incentivizing Higher Density Development
SB 423
SB 35 was passed in 2017 and established a streamlined, ministerial review
process for certain multifamily affordable housing projects that are proposed in
local jurisdictions that have not met regional housing needs.
SB 423:
• Expands applicability to the California coastal zone in 2025,
• Creates new labor standards for mixed income projects,
• Allows the state to approve housing developments on property it owns or
leases, and
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• Prohibits a city from enforcing its inclusionary housing ordinance if the
income limits are higher than those in SB 35.
AB 1490
Incentivizes affordable housing adaptive reuse projects by mandating it as an
allowable use and requiring expedited permit approval times.
SB 4
Requires ministerial approval of a development application on land owned by
either an independent institution of higher education or a religious institution. For
eligibility, projects must meet certain criteria.
AB 434
Reduces the California Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD)’s review period for locally approved housing elements or amendments from
90 days to 60 days. And it provides HCD with express authority to enforce housing
statutes including: SB 6 (2022), SB 9 (2022), AB 1218 (2023), SB 4 (2023), and SB
684 (2023).
CEQA Housing Reforms
AB 1633
Provides that a disapproval under the Housing Accountability Act (“HAA”) includes
a local agency's failure to make a determination of whether a project is exempt
from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), abuse of discretion, or
failure to adopt certain environmental documents under specified circumstances,
and makes several other changes about awarding attorneys’ fees to housing
project opponents, until January 1, 2031.
AB 1307
Stipulates that the impacts of noise generated by students and visitors are not
significant environmental impacts overturning a recent decision in litigation.
Changes to State Density Bonus Law
AB 1287
Modifies California Density Bonus Law to allow developers to apply for a stackable
density bonus in cases when the developer has already included the maximum
number of very-low, low- or moderate-income units in the proposed development
and commits to develop additional units toward very-low or moderate-income
units. Also increases the number of incentives or concessions available to certain
projects.
SB 713
Clarifies that for purposes of state density bonus law “development standards”
means those adopted by the local government or enacted by the local
government’s electorate exercising its local initiative or referendum power,
whether that power is derived from the California Constitution, statute, or the
charter or ordinances of the local government.
Modifications to the Surplus Lands Act
SB 747
Makes various changes to the Surplus Land Act (SLA) regarding the disposal
process, exemptions, and penalties for violations.
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AB 480
Makes numerous changes to the SLA, including the disposal process, the authority
of the Department of Housing and Community Development, and penalties for
violations.
SB 229
Requires a local agency to hold an open and public meeting if it has been notified
by the HCD that its planned disposal of a parcel is in violation of the SLA.
Accessory Dwelling Units
AB 976
Makes permanent the existing prohibition on local government's ability to require
owner-occupancy on a parcel containing an ADU
AB 1033
Allows cities and counties that have a local ADU ordinance to allow ADUs to be
sold separately or conveyed from the primary residence as condominiums.
AB 1332
Requires local governments to create a program for the pre-approval of ADUs
Parking
AB 894
Requires local agencies to allow developments to count underutilized and shared
parking spaces toward a parking requirement imposed by the agency, under
specified conditions.
AB 1308
Prohibits a public agency from increasing the minimum parking requirement that
applies to a single-family residence as a condition of approval of a project to
remodel, renovate, or add to a single-family residence.
Replacement Housing Requirements
AB 1218
Amends the demolition protections for existing housing applicable to
development projects.
Miscellaneous
AB 548
Requires local enforcement agencies to develop policies and procedures for
inspecting multiple units in a building if an inspector or code enforcement officer
has determined that a unit in that building is substandard or is in violation of state
habitability standards.
AB 821
Creates a notification process and time limit of 180 days for jurisdictions to align
their zoning code with the land use element of the general plan when there is a
live project application or process the application under solely the applicable
general plan standards.
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3. DISCUSSION
3.1 Streamlining Approvals and Incentivizing Higher Density Development
3.1.1 SENATE BILL (“SB”) 423 – LAND USE: STREAMLINED HOUSING APPROVALS:
MULTIFAMILY HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS.
SB 423 extends and expands the application of SB 35. For context, SB 35 was passed in 2017
and created a streamlined, ministerial approval process for qualifying multifamily and mixed-
use affordable housing projects in localities that had failed to make sufficient progress toward
their Regional Housing Needs Assessment (“RHNA”) goals. Qualifying projects must agree to
provide a certain percentage of the units as deed restricted affordable housing (e.g., a
minimum of 10 percent of the units as affordable to lower income households). Qualifying
projects are only subject to ministerial review for compliance with objective standards and thus
are exempt from discretionary entitlements and CEQA.
SB 423 extends the operation of SB 35 until Jan. 1, 2036, and expands upon its applicability, in
the following ways:
• Beginning in 2025, SB 423 expands the application of SB 35 to portions of the coastal
zone subject to certain exceptions. For instance, SB 35 would still not apply in areas of
the coastal zone that are (1) closest to the beach (e.g., within the coastal appeals
zone), (2) vulnerable to five feet of sea level rise as determined by certain agencies or
the local government’s coastal hazards vulnerability assessment, (3) located within 100
feet of a wetland or on prime agricultural land, (4) not zoned for multi-family housing,
or (5) not subject to a certified local coastal plan or land use plan.
• Similarly, the bill amends existing law to apply SB 35 in specified hazard zones and
some high fire severity zones and State Responsibility Areas, as defined in the bill,
provided that the project complies with certain building and state fire mitigation
measures.
• The bill prohibits a local government from requiring, prior to approval of a qualifying
development, compliance with any standards necessary to receive a “postentitlement
permit” (e.g., building permits) or other studies that do not pertain to compliance with
objective planning standards.
• Finally, the bill amends the required labor standards for mixed-income projects. While
SB 35 required the use of “skilled and trained” labor for all but 100% affordable
projects, SB 423 instead sets up a three-tiered regime for projects that include market-
rate units: projects with fewer than 10 units have no additional labor provisions;
projects between 10 and 50 units must pay prevailing wage; and projects with greater
than 50 units must employ apprentices and provide health care for workers.
3.1.2 ASSEMBLY BILL (“AB”) 1490 – AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS; ADAPTIVE REUSE.
AB 1490, which applies in the coastal zone, makes the adaptive reuse of existing buildings into
100 percent affordable housing units an allowable use, even if such a use conflicted with any
local plans, zoning ordinances, or regulations. To qualify, an affordable housing project must
consist of all lower income households, and at least half of the units are dedicated to very-low
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income households. The building also needs to be in an infill location and not be on or adjacent
to a site with at least one-third of the square footage dedicated to an industrial use or where
the industrial use may have an adverse impact on public health and safety. Finally, the project
must involve retrofitting or repurposing an existing building that allows residential use or has a
commercial use that currently allows temporary dwelling or occupancy. Such uses include
hotels and motels, or any commercial buildings where residential uses are allowed.
Local governments are required to process an adaptive reuse project that meets the bill's
specifications in an expedited timeframe. Additionally, the bill prohibits a local government
from imposing specified objective standards that would be difficult to implement in an adaptive
reuse project because of the physical constraints of the existing building. These standards
include the provision of additional parking or open space, a maximum density, or a specific
floor area ratio.
3.1.3 SB 4 – PLANNING AND ZONING: HOUSING DEVELOPMENT: HIGHER EDUCATION
INSTITUTIONS AND RELIGIONS INSTITUTIONS.
SB 4 requires ministerial approval—meaning without discretionary land use permitting
processes and CEQA—of a multi-family residential development application on any land owned
by either an independent institution of higher education or a religious institution on or before
Jan. 1, 2024. To be eligible, the project must meet a number of criteria:
• affordability requirements (100 percent of the units must be affordable to lower-income
households, with an option to make 20 percent of the units affordable to moderate
income households);
• location requirements (located on a legal parcel surrounded on at least 75 percent of its
perimeter with urban uses and that does not meet certain criteria, such as having prime
farmland or hazardous waste contamination or being within a very high fire severity
zone or special flood hazard area);
• compliance with objective standards set by the local jurisdiction that are not in conflict
with SB 4;
• parking minimums, such as one off-street space per unit (with certain exceptions);
• payment of prevailing wages for projects over 10 units and specified labor standards on
projects over 50 units and certain other construction wage standards; and
• restrictions on locations close to heavy industrial uses.
The law applies in the coastal zone and sunsets on Jan. 1, 2036.
3.1.4 AB 434 – HOUSING ELEMENT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION.
AB 434 streamlines the Department of Housing and Community Development’s (“HCD”)
timeline to review an adopted or amended housing element from 90 days to 60 days.
Importantly, it also expands HCD’s authority to issue notices of violation to local agencies and
the Attorney General when a local agency takes an action in violation of certain state housing
laws. AB 434 specifically expands HCD’s existing authority to issue notices of violations for 26
different state housing laws up from 13 laws.
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Many local agencies have received a notice of violation from HCD regarding compliance with
housing laws within HCD’s purview. AB 434 demonstrates the Legislature’s desire to expand
state oversight over local agencies responsible for issuing permits for new housing.
3.2 CEQA Housing Reforms
3.2.1 AB 1633 – HOUSING ACCOUNTABILITY ACT: DISAPPROVALS: CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT.
The Housing Accountability Act (“HAA”) prohibits a local government from disapproving a
housing development project that is consistent with the jurisdiction's zoning ordinance and
general plan, unless the preponderance of evidence shows that certain conditions are met, such
as the project would cause public health and safety impacts that cannot be mitigated. The HAA
explicitly states that it does not restrict the authority of a public agency to require mitigation
measures under CEQA. However, existing law is unclear when a local government does not
directly deny a project, but instead effectively renders it infeasible or unreasonably delays it by
requiring CEQA analysis beyond what the courts may consider sufficient to make a reasonable
determination of the environmental impacts of a project.
AB 1633 attempts to resolve this ambiguity for certain infill housing development projects by
defining two new violations of the HAA in scenarios when an agency unreasonably prolongs
environmental review under CEQA. AB 1633 only applies to a project that meets the following
requirements:
1. Is located on a parcel within an “urbanized” area and that meet certain criteria, such as
proximity to a high-quality transit stop or major transit stop; in an area with low
vehicles miles traveled (as defined by the statute); located near certain amenities (e.g.,
within one-half mile of a bus station, ferry terminal, within one mile in urban areas or
two miles in rural areas of a grocery store, public park community center, etc.); or on a
parcel surrounded by 75 percent (or three sides) by urban uses;
2. Has a density of at least 15 units per acre; and
3. Is not located in the coastal zone, on certain types of farmland, on wetlands, on a
hazardous waste site, within a delineated earthquake fault zone, within a special flood
hazard area, within a regulatory floodway, on lands identified for conservation, on
habitat for protected species, or in a high or very high fire hazard.
For qualifying infill housing development projects, AB 1633 states that an agency’s actions
constitute disapproval of a project under the HAA when:
1. There is substantial evidence that the project is entitled to a CEQA exemption, and the
agency fails to make a lawful determination that the project is exempt from CEQA within
90 days (or 180 days if extended by the local agency) after timely notice from the
applicant that the project is exempt.
2. There is substantial evidence to support certification of an Environmental Impact Report
(“EIR”) or similar CEQA document, the agency has held a hearing to adopt or approve
the CEQA document, but the agency fails to do so or requires further study, and the
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local agency fails to adopt, approve or certify an environmental document within 90
days of timely notice from the applicant that such action is required.
In addition, AB 1633 reduces the opportunities for housing project opponents to recover
attorneys’ fees by challenging an agency’s decision to approve a housing development project.
Specifically, AB 1633 provides that the courts should give “due weight” to whether approval of
the housing project furthered the HAA and “rarely, if ever” award attorneys’ fees for challenges
to projects approved by agencies in good faith. These provisions may disincentivize project
opponents from filing CEQA litigation.
As noted above, AB 1633 does not apply to projects within the coastal zone. AB 1633 sunsets
on Jan. 1, 2031.
3.2.2 AB 1307 – CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT: NOISE IMPACT:
RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS.
In response to a court decision finding that student housing may constitute an environmental
impact based on the noise from student occupants, AB 1307 amends CEQA to expressly state
that noise generated by project occupants and their guests on human beings is not a significant
effect on the environment.
3.3 Changes to State Density Bonus Law
Density Bonus Law was originally enacted in 1979 to encourage housing developers to produce
below market rate, affordable units. In return for including a certain percentage of affordable
units, housing developers receive the ability to add additional units for their project above the
jurisdiction’s allowable zoned density for the site (i.e., a “density bonus”), concessions and
incentives, waivers or reductions of development standards (e.g., architectural, height, setback
requirements) and reductions in vehicle parking requirements. These benefits are intended to
promote housing development by offsetting the cost of the building of affordable units.
3.3.1 AB 1287 – DENSITY BONUS LAW: MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE RESIDENTIAL
DENSITY: ADDITIONAL DENSITY BONUS AND INCENTIVES OR CONCESSIONS.
AB 1287 expands and amends Density Bonus Law by incorporating concessions and incentives
intended to tackle housing unaffordability for very-low income and moderate income
households. The bill does this by (1) expanding the number of incentives of concessions
available to certain projects; and (2) creating an additional density bonus for projects that
propose more very low income and moderate income units, which stacks on top of the existing
density bonus allowed under Density Bonus Law.
Density Bonus Law allows a developer to receive incentives or concessions, which can be used
to reduce or eliminate certain development standards, such as setbacks, height limits, square
footage requirements and other development standards, that result in identifiable and actual
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cost reductions for the project. AB 1287 expands the number of incentives or concessions a
project is entitled to as follows:
• Five incentives and concessions, instead of four, for projects that are 100% affordable
to lower-income households, except that up to 20% of the units may be for moderate-
income households.
• Four concessions and incentives to projects that include at least 16% of the units for
very-low income households or at least 45% for moderate-income in a development in
which the units are for sale.
Density Bonus Law allows up to a 50 percent bonus for the number of units a developer can
build, if they agree to develop a project containing at least 15 percent very-low income units,
24 percent low income units or 44 percent moderate income (for sale) units based on the
underlying density for the site. AB 1287 grants an additional density bonus for a project that
maximizes the production of very-low, low, or moderate income units before and agrees to
deed restrict additional units for very low or moderate income households. AB 1287 grants the
following maximum density bonuses:
• An additional density bonus up to 38.75 percent when a project includes an additional
10 percent of the units for sale or for rent to very low income households (maximum
density bonus of 88.75 percent); or
• An additional density bonus up to 50 percent when a project includes an additional 15
percent of the units for sale or for rent to moderate income households (maximum
density bonus of 100 percent).
Similar to current Density Bonus Law, AB 1287 grants a density bonus incrementally based on
the percentage of affordable units provided and offers an additional stackable bonus for
exceeding the prior maximum density bonus thresholds. For example, as noted above, under
current law, if a developer provides 15 percent of the units affordable to very low income units,
they receive a maximum density bonus of 50 percent. Under current law, if a developer
includes 20 percent of the units affordable to very-low income families (i.e., 5 percent over the
current maximum percentage), the developer would still only receive a 50 percent density
bonus. With this bill, however, because the developer provided an additional 5 percent of the
units affordable to very-low income households, the developer is entitled to an additional 20
percent density bonus for a total density bonus of 70 percent (i.e., 50 percent under current
law and 20 percent under this bill).
Density Bonus Law specifies that it does not supersede or in any way alters or lessens the
effect or application of the Coastal Act. However, any density bonus, concession, incentives,
waivers or reductions of development standards, and parking ratios to which an application is
entitled under Density Bonus Law must be permitted in a manner consistent with the Coastal
Act. As a result, jurisdictions located within the coastal zone will need to implement Density
Bonus Law, as amended by AB 1287, in a manner that protects coastal resources.
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3.3.2 SB 713 – PLANNING AND ZONING: DENSITY BONUSES: DEVELOPMENT
STANDARD.
In addition to allowing for concessions or incentives to reduce or eliminate certain development
standards, Density Bonus Law provides that a local government cannot apply any development
standard that will have the effect of physically precluding the construction of a development at
the densities or with the concessions or incentives permitted under Density Bonus Law.
SB 713 clarifies that “development standard” includes standards adopted by the local
government or enacted by the local government’s electorate exercising its local initiative or
referendum power, whether that power is derived from the California Constitution, statute, or
the charter or ordinances of the local government. This means that if an initiative were to enact
development standards applicable to housing projects, SB 713 would apply and allow a project
proponent to use Density Bonus Law to eliminate or reduce said development standard.
3.4 Modifications to the Surplus Lands Act
In 1968, the California Legislature enacted the Surplus Lands Act (“Act”), which aims to
increase the availability of real property in California for affordable housing development by
requiring the prioritization of affordable housing when disposing of public lands no longer
necessary for agency use. The Act serves this purpose by imposing requirements on public
agencies disposing of land that grants affordable housing developers a priority right to acquire
the land. Some other groups (e.g., school districts, parks and recreation districts, etc.) also
have priority rights, but affordable housing developers have the highest priority.
Recent legislation and regulations have significantly broadened the scope of the Act. Most
notably, AB 1486 (2019-20) imposed various new requirements on public agencies disposing of
surplus lands and introduced penalties for noncompliant dispositions. Related guidance
published by HCD further expanded the scope of the Act by, among other things, purporting to
apply the Act to leases and by establishing additional procedural requirements to dispose of
surplus land with oversight by HCD.
The following bills amend and provide some degree of flexibility to public agencies by
expanding what constitutes exempt surplus land.
3.4.1 SB 747 – LAND USE: SURPLUS LAND.
The key impacts of SB 747 are as follows:
• Statutory confirmation that the Act does not apply to leases of 15 years or less. This is a
major improvement from HCD’s current regulations which purport to apply the Act to
leases of as little as five years (subject to some exceptions).
• Amended and new categories of exempt surplus land, including, but not limited to,
disposal of small parcels (e.g., parcels smaller than 0.5 acres), land owned by public-
use airports, certain lands owned by agencies whose primary mission relates to public
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transportation, and certain lands transferred to community land trusts, are all more
particularly set forth in the SB 747.
• Clarification that valid legal restrictions for the purposes of determining whether land is
exempt surplus land include contractual rights agreed to prior to Sept. 30, 2019, that
prevent the use of the property for housing.
3.4.2 AB 480 – SURPLUS LAND.
AB 480 recognizes that the selling and leasing of publicly owned land is a long, drawn-out
process and provides public agencies with an extended timeline to take advantage of a special
exception to the Act. For public agencies that entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement
(“ENA”) prior to the passage of AB 1486 (2019), AB 480 allows those agencies to comply with
the pre-AB 1486 version of the Act for such dispositions (the “ENA exception”).
Prior to the passage of AB 480, the deadline to utilize the ENA exemption was Dec. 31, 2022.
This means that if an agency and a developer (or other entity) were party to an ENA prior to
the passage of AB 1486 but failed to complete the contemplated disposition by Dec. 31, 2022,
then the ENA was essentially deemed null and void, and the agency was forced to comply with
the new version of the Act (thereby completely disregarding the contractual rights of not only
the agency but also the developer or other third-party). Now, the deadline to utilize the ENA
exemption has been extended to Dec. 31, 2027, which means that the parties to an ENA
agreed to prior to September 30, 2019 can move forward with their contemplated transaction
under the prior version of the Act until Dec. 31, 2027.
3.4.3 SB 229 – SURPLUS LAND: DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY: VIOLATIONS: PUBLIC
MEETING.
SB 229 requires that if a local agency is disposing of surplus land and has been notified by HCD
of a violation, the agency must hold an open and public meeting to review the violation notice.
3.5 Accessory Dwelling Units
The Legislature has passed numerous updates to state law pertaining to Accessory Dwelling
Units (“ADUs”) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (“JADUs”) since 2016 to promote the
development of ADUs and JADUs through streamlined approval processes and limitations on
local agencies’ authority to regulate ADUs and JADUs.
3.5.1 AB 976 – ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS: OWNER-OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENTS.
Under existing state ADU Law, local agencies could restrict the rental of ADUs for longer than
30 days and impose owner occupancy requirements for ADUs permitted after Jan. 1, 2025.
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AB 976 continues to allow local agencies to restrict the use of ADUs for short-term rentals, but
eliminates the ability of local agencies to impose owner-occupancy requirements on any ADUs,
regardless of when they were permitted.
3.5.2 AB 1033 - ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS: LOCAL ORDINANCES: SEPARATE
SALE OR CONVEYANCE.
AB 1033 allows local agencies to adopt a local ordinance to allow for the separate conveyance
of a primary dwelling unit and ADU or ADUs as condominiums. The local ordinance must require
that the condominiums be created under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act;
follow all applicable, objective requirements of the Subdivision Map Act and local subdivision
ordinance; be approved following a safety inspection and notice to any lienholders; have
conditions requiring notice to prospective purchasers and utility providers; and require the
consent of any existing common interest development association (if applicable).
3.5.3 AB 1332 – ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS: PREAPPROVED PLANS.
AB 1332 requires all local agencies to develop a program for preapproval of ADUs by Jan. 1,
2025. It requires local agencies to develop a program to accept ADU plans for preapproval from
any applicant and process those ADU plans consistent with applicable requirements. Once the
plans are preapproved, the local agency is required to post the plans on their website, along
with the contact information provided by the applicant. In effect, members of the public
seeking to build an ADU will be able to peruse the City’s website to view its catalogue of
preapproved ADUs. Members of the public then can directly reach out to the ADU providers to
find out the cost to license the pre-approved plans for their own ADUs.
This bill also requires local agencies to reduce the review time from 60 days to 30 days, for an
ADU that uses pre-approved plans within the current triennial California Building Standards
Code rulemaking cycle.
3.6 Parking Requirements
3.6.1 AB 894 – PARKING REQUIREMENTS: SHARED PARKING.
Cities and counties generally establish requirements for a minimum amount of parking
developers must provide for a given facility or use, known as parking minimums or parking
ratios. Local governments commonly index parking minimums to conditions related to the
building or facility with which they are associated. For example, shopping centers may have
parking requirements linked to total floor space, restaurant parking may be linked to the total
number of seats, and hotels may have parking spaces linked to the number of beds or rooms.
Most local agencies establish parking requirements based on the number of units and bedrooms
in a residential development, and the amount of commercial floor area dedicated to a particular
use. According to the Legislature, research has documented various harms associated with
parking minimums which can unnecessarily consume land and resources that might be better
used to support more housing, jobs, services, and open space.
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To spur greater use of underutilized parking, and to make it easier for entities to meet
minimum parking requirements, AB 894 requires local agencies to allow underutilized parking
spaces to be shared with other neighboring land uses, local agencies and/or the public, and to
count shared parking toward meeting minimum parking requirements. In cases when the entity
seeks to use a shared parking agreement to meet the local agency’s parking requirements, all
of the following criteria apply:
• The local agency shall approve the shared parking agreement if it (1) includes a parking
analysis using peer reviewed methodologies, developed by a professional planning
association, sufficient to determine how many parking spaces can be reasonably shared
between the uses; and (2) secures long-term provision of parking spaces or provides
the opportunity for periodic review;
• The shared parking agreement involves entities on the same or contiguous parcels, the
parking site is within 2,000 feet of travel by the shortest walking distance, or the
entities will provide a shuttle or other accommodations between the parking site and the
use and demonstrate a commitment to sustain the shuttle or accommodations;
• The local agency may require that the shared parking agreement be recorded; and
• The local agency may request and confirm reasonable verification that the shared
parking agreement has been or will be secured as a condition for such approval.
The local agency, however, cannot require the curing of a preexisting parking deficit as a
condition of approval for the shared parking agreement or deny the agreement solely based on
a temporary reduction of the parking spaces available for the original proposed use. The shared
parking agreement also cannot reduce the number of parking spaces accessible to persons with
disabilities or electric vehicles that otherwise apply to the development.
AB 894 also mandates that local agencies consider shared parking agreements for replacing
new parking construction or limiting the number of new parking spaces when using state or
public funds for development projects or for the construction of a new parking facility after June
30, 2024.
The Coastal Act further contains provisions that new development should maintain and enhance
public access to the coast by providing adequate parking facilities or serving development with
public transportation.
3.6.2 AB 1308 - PLANNING AND ZONING LAW: SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCES:
PARKING REQUIREMENTS.
AB 1308 prohibits a public agency from increasing the minimum parking requirement that
applies to a single-family residence as a condition of approval of a project to remodel, renovate
or to add a single-family residence when the proposed project does not cause the single-family
residence to exceed any maximum size limit imposed by the applicable zoning regulations.
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3.7 Replacement Housing Requirements
To prevent the displacement of tenants associated with development, various state laws—the
HCA, the Mello Act and Density Bonus Law—require applicants to replace residential dwelling
units and generally ensure that new development does not remove units affordable to lower-
and moderate-income households from a local agency’s housing stock.
3.7.1 AB 1218 – DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: DEMOLITION OF RESIDENTIAL
DWELLING UNITS.
AB 1218 amends the HCA to expand its scope and clarify certain provisions. The HCA
previously prohibited local agencies from approving a housing development project involving
the demolition of protected residential dwelling units, as defined, unless the project created at
least as many residential units and the project met certain criteria. The criteria include, among
other things, replacement of all the existing protected units with deed restricted units
affordable to very-low-, low- or moderate-income households based on the income of the
current tenants in a protected unit, and certain relocation benefits for lower income
households.
AB 1218 expands the HCA replacement housing obligations to any development project,
including commercial development projects, that will demolish existing protected units unless
certain exceptions apply (e.g., the project is an industrial use). It further requires non-housing
development projects to provide the replacement units prior to or concurrent with the
development project. It also clarifies that the project applicant must offer a right of first refusal
to existing occupants of protected units to comparable units in the new development.
3.8 Miscellaneous Laws
3.8.1 AB 548 – STATE HOUSING LAW: INSPECTION.
By Jan. 1, 2025, AB 548 requires local enforcement agencies to develop policies and
procedures for inspecting a building with multiple units if an inspector or code enforcement
officer has determined that a unit is substandard or in violation of the Health and Safety Code
and the inspector or officer determines that the defect or violations have the potential to affect
other units. The policies and procedures must: (1) include criteria that the inspector or officer
shall use to determine if the substandard conditions could reasonably affect other units; (2)
require inspectors or officer to reasonably attempt to inspect additional units at the property
consistent with existing law; and (3) allow for the inspection of all the units on the premises if
severe, building-wide defects or violations are found. The local enforcement agency shall then
provide the property owner with a notice or order to repair or abate within a reasonable period
of time and the actions required to remedy the violations.
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3.8.2 AB 821 – PLANNING AND ZONING: GENERAL PLAN: ZONING ORDINANCE:
CONFLICTS.
Existing law requires each city and county to adopt a general plan and ensure consistency
between their general plan and zoning ordinances. AB 821 addresses scenarios where a local
agency amends its general plan, but has yet to amend its zoning ordinance, and receives a
development project application consistent with the amended general plan. In such a scenario,
the local agency must either:
1. Amend its zoning ordinance within 180 days from receipt of the development application
to be consistent with the general plan; or
2. Process the development application in accordance with applicable laws and objective
general plan standards, but not under inconsistent zoning standards, in a manner that
facilitates and accommodates the development at the density allowed under the general
plan.
If the local agency fails to complete option (1) above, it must follow option (2). AB 821 does
not clarify how it interacts with the Coastal Act.
